I had the privilege this year to attend the annual SATSA conference which was hosted at the Fancourt hotel in George. It was an ideal opportunity to get to know our partners and other tour operators personally, putting names to faces and building the relationships. Also, it was a great space to meet all sorts of different folk related to tourism and keep up to date with the trends and frustrations of the industry.

The content was relevant and the format of panel discussions allowed for everyone to have their say. The great rates debate had everyone agreeing that we have to continue to hold in tension, the old and the new ways of doing business – using dynamic and static rates where appropriate and accepting that there is still a need for hard copy brochures along with a greater online presence.

We discussed our part in conserving Africa’s wildlife and the value of emerging markets. Transformation and responsible tourism were key threads which provoked delegates to think about what impact they can make – right where we are, in our businesses.

All in all it was a well rounded couple of days, witnessing the relationships which have formed through the association and learning more about the different players in the game. In the minister of tourism’s address we were encouraged to keep going despite the challenges within the sector, and to continue to partner with each other as we do business.

For the non techy ‘Jacks’ amongst us, it’s not so easy to get our heads around how electronic connections work and we definitely don’t want to be left behind in this fast moving online world.

To try and explain the concept for those who unfamiliar with tech terms, we have drawn out the elements of connections to show how they link together.

API (application program interface)Wikipedia defines an API as “[A] software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. An API defines functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising the interface. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together.”

API’s were designed as technical communication tools to communicate between servers, programs or applications and to push existing information from one application to another.

The bridgeThe bridge is a link or router that connects an API call to the principal/client (database) for which it’s supposed to be. So when an API call comes in, the bridge will know where the ResRequest client database is for that call and will route it to the appropriate server and database.

SproutSprout is an API converter/translator and it’s designed to store information and act as communicator between our API, ResConnectand others, such as NightsBridge‘s and SynXis‘ API. It has ‘push’ and ‘pull’ data functionality. With NightsBridge and SynXis APIs, Sprout allows NightsBridge and SynXis to pull information such as stock, rates and even create reservations. It can store up to two years of client availability and will update all transferred information every 5mins.

ResConnectResConnect is the service offered by ResRequest – this is our API which gives specialist agents and tour operators access to live availability and rates of ResRequest clients, by electronically communicating with their own internal systems and even offering the functionality to book.

OTA’s and GDS’ via channel managersTo get stock even more wider spread – online travel agents (OTA) such as Bookings.com and Expedia and global distribution systems (GDS) like Amadeus, can display ResRequest client inventory via a channel manager. We interface to Nightsbridge to place your rooms on these online platforms.

Going forward, we hope that you may not be too daunted to get involved with the possibilities that this magical ‘bean sprout’ has to offer.

Our future development plans include an upgrade of the user interface and sprout update failure notifications.

Want to know where the wildebeest herds are? People planning to travel to Kenya and Tanzania for the Great Migration can now track one of nature’s most spectacular events even before they get there – via a web application called HerdTracker.

Created by Discover Africa, a leading tailor-made safari operator based in Cape Town, HerdTracker plots the exact position of the wildebeest herds on a real-time Google map, using weekly updates sent in by pilots flying over Kenya’s Masai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti, safari guides, Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) rangers and lodges in the area.

HerdTracker was designed and built by Discover Africa’s own web development team using open-source software in just two months, using the idea of their East Africa expert, Carel Verhoef, a qualified safari guide who has lived in the Serengeti for ten years.

Between 2003 and 2011 Verhoef led over 300 migration safaris, and developed a deep understanding of – and appreciation for the annual wildebeest migration. While living in Tanzania, Carel also climbed Kilimanjaro nine times. His 10th assent is scheduled for August 2014.

Co-founder of Discover Africa, Andre Van Kets says that the development of the app was not overly complex.

“We’ve used open source tools and Google Maps, which has an open API, although we used our own icons, not the standard set. We’ve combined that with the human element so we’re not just posting the GPS coordinates, but the comments of our guides too,” says Van Kets. He says that the main aim of HerdTracker is to help people choose the best accommodation to stay at and when to go to ensure that they don’t miss the Great Migration.

“A safari experience is a trip of a lifetime, which can be a complex process to plan for, especially for first timers.

“We’ve developed HerdTracker to help make the journey easier for our customers.

“It’s an incredible tool that allows you to not only track the great migration in real time, but predict where the herd will be at the time of your travel,” adds Van Kets.

How HerdTracker Works

HerdTracker is your usual Google Map, modified with little pins stamped with a wildebeest. Each pin is clickable and displays a message by the person who has sent the update (Our sources listed above).

A recent update, sent in by Captain Joel J Fernandes, a pilot for Coastal Aviation in Tanzania and flies over the Serengeti daily reads: “Morning Carel, I’ve been back for 2 days now and you won’t believe the coincidence but I was planning to mail you right now. So, they are everywhere. The trailing end are at Kogatende airstrip and the leaders just went past Seronera. They are tonnes at Lobo and Fort Ikoma. I can’t believe it but these are what I saw personally in the 2 days of flying!!!‎ So good to be back. Pics attached. Have a good one’”

Another update, sourced by Lemala Camps, a company who owns a unique collection of Lodges, Permanent Tented Camps & Mobile Camps in Tanzania says: “Hi Carel, there was a small crossing, in that the beasts started to cross, but then the vulture activity on the far bank scared the remainder and the crossing stopped. The wildebeest then gathered for a few hours and around 16:30 they crossed. It was large and was about 45 min. We worked magic and your clients, Alex and partner, were there to see it so lovely timing. I don’t have pics of the big crossing because Tabby had to leave before they crossed. I can also inform you that right now there is another gathering of them at Makutano. Regards, Veronica.”

Van Kets says that they designed the app for browsing on your phone first, rather than for desktop computers.

“We designed it to be mobile first, because if you first build a desktop version and try to shrink it to mobile, it’s really difficult. It’s better to build it for a small screen and then scale it up,” says Van Kets.

Plans for the future? Discover Africa is considering building and designing an Android app that would send updates to its users without having to visit the website.

Imagine working with an online travelagent who understands how African lodges work.Someone who specialises in attracting customers who want your African experience. Someone who understands how your transfers and extras work and who can sell your beds, without you having to do anything!

Many of Africa’s top booking agents and safari specialists are investing in development to be able to link to ResRequest via our ResConnect product. Allowing them to easily check availability, quote accurately, and even book – saving the guest, agent and lodge time.

As a FREE business to business interface, ResConnect enables remote lodges to have a greater online presence and increase their sales by having real time inventory available for their agents. This is a safe and hassle-free way to streamline agent business whilst having full control of the shared information.

If you have any questions or want to know the next steps to getting connected, please contact us on: support@resrequest.com.

See what our connection partners have to say!

“The integration with Travelogic and ResRequest, will further enhance our client offering. Tour Operators are looking for speed, accuracy and efficiency when putting together a quote and confirming bookings. With this integration, we are able to offer the advantage of Travelogic functionality and a live booking option, and in so doing, harmonise the relationship between the supplier and the tour operator.” Lindsay de Heer, Managing Director, Travelogic

“I am very excited about the relationship between Travelogic and ResRequest. To have the ability to prepare an accurate quotation, check availability and publish customised detailed documents all from one system is remarkable. It will save time for our consultants as well as our suppliers, and will aid with a seamless quotation process.” Cuan McLaren, African Ubuntu Safaris

“At Expert Africa we breathe a sigh of relief when one of our lodges moves to ResRequest. We know it’s a reliable platform, we know it’ll work well even when comms are challenging, and we know that we’ll easily be able to access their availability information through ResConnect – which speeds up our business of sending travellers to them on tailor-made itineraries.” Chris McIntyre, Managing Director, Expert Africa

“Our travellers can get all the safari lodge information they need in one place, from wide screen photos to number of beds, map location, Trip Advisor reviews, amenities, as well as availability which ResConnect provides dynamically.” David Tett, President, Bushtracks Expeditions

“ResConnect allows us to provide our African Safari Experts with access live availability and rates information – This enables them to instantly engage with travellers and rapidly develop and dispatch available and accurately costed itineraries 24/7/365.” Joanne Dickson, CEO, Go2Africa

“Globa.li connects real-time inventory from hundreds of the best hotels across Africa, many which have never been bookable online before, with travel agents, tour operators and other distributors from around the world.” Sarah Fazendin, CEO of Globa.li

Big5 Boutique is an online platform empowering people to easily discover and book hand-picked safaris across Africa.
“ResConnect is going to allow us to make our booking process for lodges much more efficient” Johnny Prince, CEO, Big5 Boutique

Africa Travel Resource is a travel company specialising in assisting travellers to create authentic and innovative trips to Africa.

ECCO Tours is happy to announce it has partnering with ResRequest to provide their clients with a seamless online booking platform. The integration will allow ECCO Tours clients access to rates and availability, ensuring maximum sales penetration as well as an easier way to transact. The integration will ensure reduced time for the booking process, a key requirement across their client-base.

General Manager & Head of Product of ECCO Tours, Tony Brink said: “The channel allows our clients to now access far more room stock as well as offers real time ability to up-sell on accommodation. This is a proven method to increase revenue for both our contracted suppliers as well as the company itself.”

“Our continual partnership with important channel distribution platforms such as ResRequest reiterates our commitment to offering our clients the best service, platform connectivity, and booking efficiency as possible”, said Rory Mathew, IT Manager of ECCO Tours.

More connecting soon…

Next steps for lodges: Connections are quick and easy – just build a relationship with the agent you’d like to connect with. Set them up in ResRequest as an agent and user, then send a request to support@resrequest.com to link you up. Each connection is FREE – with a nominal once off setup fee.

How to Connect:When you are ready to start the technical connection we will send you our service agreement (NDA) and introduce your developers to our developers. Your developer will receive access to a test site and our technical documentation.

Once you have established commercial agreements with your property partners from our client list, our call centre will setup the links to connect you with your selected properties.

Connection Charges:Use of our API is free.

Should you require our services to co-ordinate setup with our customers or development assistance this is billed at our annually published support and development rates.

When our customers research options for online payments, I find there are a few common questions they often ask me. These questions are included below to help you, as you workshop this strategy for your lodge.

How does ResRequest handle credit card payments?

ResRequest offers two online booking options. Each of these options can generate a credit card payment which can be recorded on the ResRequest booking.

The ResRequest booking form: ResRequest’s booking form includes a credit card transaction step. This step very simply routes the to a secure payment gateway and then confirms the reservation.

The ResRequest interface to: Customers who have created their own booking form and generate availability, rates and bookings using the ResRequest API. The booking process can be extended on your booking form to include payments with your preferred gateway. This payment interface is developed and supported by your web developer. Payments are then automatically recorded on ResRequest bookings.

There are typically 3 vendors involved in the process for online bookings. Each vendor may apply a cost for the credit card transaction.

ResRequest, or your online booking form
Your online booking form is free of charge. Customers using our interface are charged a nominal fee of $10 per month (or 1% of ResRequest base rental).

Credit card payment gateway
The payment gateway is the online company who automates the transaction payment between the bank merchant e.g. Visa or MasterCard, and your bank. The gateway is responsible for providing a safe and secure service when verifying the credit card holder’s details. The payment gateway will have an agreement in place with your bank and generally negotiate transaction fees.

Your merchant bank
Each bank agreement differs depending on their policies. In some cases banks have aligned with payment gateways to ensure that they can offer bundled competitive charges.

Offering credit card transactions on your website is a convenient, time-saving, secure method of accepting payment for your stock. The ability to accept credit card payments on your site is a critical requirement to selling your stock on the Internet. The ResRequest Credit Card Interface makes this possible.

How your customers benefit from credit card payments on your website

Customers have come to expect to be able to book and pay. A credit card facility is especially welcomed by repeat guests and for business to business transactions.

Understanding the profile of customers who pay with credit cards online may help you decide if you will implement credit card payments on your web site. Credit card payments allow you to take advantage of transacting with the following types of customers:

International customers Credit card payment is a convenient and safe way of transacting with your customers overseas. Overseas customers generally expect and trust online services – which helps to close a deal. This is especially convenient when there is a time difference between the customer shopping on your site and being able to contact your booking office. Credit card payments can also assist in addressing currency differences.

Repeat guests Guests who have previously travelled to your area may be comfortable with your travel transfers and logistics. Payments with the booking process help close the sale efficiently.

Impulse buyers If your marketing team has attracted new customers to your web site, the buyer is often impressed enough that they are ready to close the sale. Only having a manual payment option may result in a delay or result in the customer shopping elsewhere.

Business to business Travel agents and personal assistants often do not require intimate contact to finalise a booking. Providing online transactions saves them time and effort and could help make you the destination of choice.

How credit card payments work electronically

Credit card payments are initiated when the user requests an electronic payment from your website or business application. The payment request routes the credit card holder to your payment vendor’s site. This vendor is referred to as the payment gateway and facilitates the transaction between you, the card holder’s company and your bank.

Your ResRequest online booking form offers seamless integration to a payment gateway. This enables your user to book and pay online immediately. Transactions from the gateway are automatically recorded on the ResRequest booking. ResRequest charges a fixed monthly fee to host the automated credit card interface on your ResRequest booking page.

If you create your own booking page on your website and use the ResRequest API (interface) to check availability and make bookings, your web developer can

record payments with bookings created through the API. There is no ResRequest fee for this interface as the service is developed by you and hosted on your web site.

When you consider credit card costs – remember that your gateway and bank will determine the cost for their portion of this credit card service. These fees are finalised when you establish your commercial agreement with your gateway. Fees are generally based on your profile which includes transaction volumes and your business relationship.

The ResRequest booking pages can be branded to match your web site so that your customers feel like they are booking directly with you.

At point of payment the user is directed to the payment gateway form where they can securely submit their credit card details. The gateway verifies the card holder with the card association (VISA, MasterCard etc), approves or declines the payment, and returns the user to the ResRequest booking page. ResRequest notifies the user as to whether the transaction succeeded and provides a ResRequest reference number.

Successful payments are automatically recorded on the ResRequest booking. Funds are released into your bank account according to the gateway’s process rules.

Set up your gateway partner as a ResRequest interface Contact ResRequest to activate the interface for you.

Tips when selecting a gateway partner

Gateway services and pricing can vary and it’s important to have a blueprint of your business payment needs to ensure you select the most suitable vendor. Below is a list of considerations to help you choose your gateway:

Cost. Service costs may be fixed or a per-transaction fee, or a combination of fixed and transaction fees. Each gateway will negotiate a price with you based on your profile. It is important to understand their services to evaluate business value relative to their fees. Ensure that you understand the full monthly cost involved and/or the cost of each transaction from all the suppliers including ResRequest, the gateway provider and your bank.

Payment release time. Ensure your gateway meets your expectations regarding the time between the transaction being approved and the money being released to your account.

Meets your business needs. Consider all e-commerce factors that influence the choice of your gateway partner. Questions include: Can your gateway support the currencies you accept? Do they connect to your bank? Do they support travel and entertainment cards such as Diners Club and Amex (and at what cost)? Can they process ad hoc transactions for account settlements or guest check outs?

Trust. Check that your gateway is secure and compliant with industry rules and regulations. Speak to your bank to confirm that they have approved your gateway. Ensure you understand and accept the chargeback policies.

Consolidated services. Many clients look for an online credit card partner to handle product sales on their website but these days gateways offer more than that. Services can include credit card

terminals / cash points for payments at your lodge, handling debit cards, and facilitating the settlement of cash accounts or business to business payments. Before you choose your preferred credit card vendor, take time to identify other payment needs to ensure your gateway can support them.

Customisable online interface. For your customer’s peace of mind during the payment process, it is important that your brand is recognisable on the gateway’s transaction page. Ask your gateway partner to show you the options available to you, including costs involved.

Back office tools. There may be times that you need to reconcile transactions – ensure that your gateway provides these administration tools and support services.

In the past lodges have shied away from online payments citing concerns from “my customer will not understand complex travel logistics”, to concerns like “online payments will take away the personal contact with my customer”, and even “online bookings will create an unrealistic travel expectation”.

These concerns are valid and should be addressed. In fact they are already being addressed by pioneer lodges and travel sites like Expedia and Agoda. These businesses consider lodge stock sales as a feasible market and they are addressing sales challenges through packages, site content and seriously (seriously!) rigid booking terms and conditions.

If a customer can look, book and pay for a holiday to a lodge on a travel site, what’s stopping you from offering the same service on your own site? Answer that question and you may find it’s easy to put plans in place to direct your online customer to book on your own site.

Implementing online payments on your site caters for the customer who understands logistics, or a customer who is prepared to find out details after they have committed to the sale. It caters for the repeat guest, international guest, business guest and the impromptu buyer. Your online shopper has an inherent trust in web content and your brand, they have researched you on Tripadvisor, Facebook and other social media platforms. By the time they are prepared to enter their credit card details, they have concluded that you meet their expectations and they trust that you will fill in any gaps for them.

Ignoring online payments may mean you alienate a potentially lucrative market from your business. Why? Because these online customers prefer to shop at a time that suits them, on a device that suits them and they prefer instant (and electronic) response to their quoting and purchasing needs. This customer interprets your personal attention from your e-content such as, your social media posts and your web site content. They expect that you will fill in any gaps for them, even after their transaction is completed online. And if you don’t cater to their shopping preference – they will likely close your web page and find someone in your area who does.

Offering credit card transactions is a necessary service for this customer because it provides them with a convenient, effective time-saving method of processing payment, in a secure environment.

Reaping the benefits of online booking channels sounds appealing until you hit the Google search button. The vast volume of results leave most people feeling intimidated or exhausted before they even click ‘Next’.

As the online inventory and availability distribution hub, ResRequest plays a key role in working with our channel and technology partners and customers to identify online booking options that clients can embrace, turning this online challenge into an exciting opportunity.

To help you kickstart your blueprint to success, we have identified the online booking options available to you, their pitfalls, successes and general industry trends.

Channel Options

Your website. Your investment in a great web design is to excite customers about your product and lead them to buy. Once your customer has made a commitment to purchase, they ask for price and availability, which culminates in a sale. For this reason close to 90% of our clients proactively engage in showing rates and availability on their website.

Luxury / remote lodges are less confident of the value of creating bookings and processing credit cards directly from their website. Reasons for look-to-book reluctance includes fears that guests will not be able to arrange complicated transfers. In addition lodges are concerned that automating bookings sidesteps the value of building a relationship between the customer and their product. To top these concerns, many lodges are wary of how partner agents may react to them openly targeting the direct market.

As a result of all these concerns, we see a more cautious approach to creating bookings online, resulting in clients favouring availability displays with an easy-to-use enquiry form.

However, over the last year we have seen an increase in creating bookings with close to 5% of our clients implementing this functionality on their website. We believe that, even though lodge consumers may continue to need personal interaction with reservation offices or agents, over the next 2 years online bookings will become an expected norm from direct and travel trade.

Your business partners. Over time, marketing groups have formed with the objective of stimulating travel in niche markets. Some of these groups are commercial ventures, while others are informal associations born from like-minded neighbouring properties. This year saw an increase in interest for marketing groups and regional availability, where independent / neighbouring properties are interested in publishing availability on a collaborative web-page. Approximately 5% of our clients now participate in this type of online channel. This is a market sector that is growing in popularity and benefits both direct guests and travel trade.

Specialist agents. Ask any agent or tour operator and they will tell you that a large portion of their success is the skill with which they are able to quickly prepare a customised itinerary. Giving specialist agents access to your stock means that agents are able to prepare and respond to requests for quotations faster then their competitors. More then 70% of our clients allow agents to access stock through our agent module, with close to 3% allowing agents to create bookings.

To enable agents with their own systems to electronically extract rate and availability from multiple clients, we have developed an auxiliary product, ResConnect. Approximately 90% of our clients have established relationships with our agent partners who use ResConnect.

Mass market channels / Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Travel sites reported significant 2011 revenues: Expedia $3.45 billion, Amadeus at E2,7 billion. With revenues like these it is understandable that every hotel would love to tap into those markets. So why are lodges cautious of tapping into these very lucrative channels?

Lodges have many concerns with these channels. Concerns include the effect of boycotts by specialist travel agents and tour operators. Lodges also fear that channels will create a price war climate that will ultimately result in cheapening their products and forcing rack rates to drop. In addition lodges have logistical fears that these channels have no concern for the guest’s knowledge or ability to transfer to and from complicated, remote locations. There is also a fear that web-savvy consumers receiving an unexpected experience will complain on public forums such as Tripadvisor and Twitter, tarnishing a lodge’s reputation.

It is clear that the lodge industry have not yet understood if and how this market sector could be valuable to them. Among our clients we see 3 opinions: clients who are adamant this sector will not work for them, clients who are cautious but tempted to experiment and clients who embrace these channels as a new type of agent.

Despite these fears, this year we have seen our first 16 properties tap into these channels. Early evidence suggests that once the connection is established, marketing effort is then required to ensure that trends and product pricing align with each partner site’s requirements, to ensure that the lodge will be listed high in relevant searches.

Considerations

“Where does ResRequest fit in?”
Each channel option requires a specific strategy and project plan and ResRequest is an integral part of this strategy. To demonstrate where ResRequest fits in and how you can use the online Channels available to you, we have created a Connections starter document. Please download this file for more information.

“Do the bookings roll in once I’m connected?”
A common misconception about online channels is that because they are automated, they will generate business immediately. This is a myth, marketing effort is required to manage and understand how to sell bednights effectively on each channel.

Approach this as a completely new way of promoting your product by investing in managing and understanding each connection model, and they will become exciting new opportunities to sell bed nights.